Multi-conductor electrical connectors have been used for many years and have been provided in a wide variety of configurations for mass-terminating a plurality of terminals to the conductors of a multi-conductor electrical cable. One type of electrical connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,816 to Roberts et al., dated Sep. 11, 1990 and assigned to the assignee of this invention. That electrical connector includes a plurality of terminals which are mounted in a housing comprised of front and rear housing components. The terminals may be mass-terminated by inserting a plurality of wires into the housing through the rear housing component and by axially advancing the rear housing component relative to the front housing component. A terminal that is particularly useful with that electrical connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,619 to Dechelette, dated Apr. 23, 1985 and assigned to the assignee of this invention. Such terminal includes a collapsible insulation displacement portion that terminates a conductor in response to a force directed axially along the length of a wire received within the terminal.
In applications such as the telecommunications industry, the wires being terminated are extremely small which makes handling and trimming the wires difficult. Further, because of their small size, the wires lack rigidity which complicates the process of determining whether the wires are fully inserted into the connector assembly.
This invention is directed to providing a press tool for use with multi-conductor electrical connectors that also has the ability to cut the conductors of the connector prior to termination.